Confusion among Labour's top team as senior figures disagree over second EU referendum

Written by:

Agnes Chambre

Posted On:

17th December 2017

Deputy Labour leader Tom Watson has refused to rule out a second EU referendum - just an hour after his shadow cabinet colleague Diane Abbott said the party does not support the policy.

Tom Watson and Jeremy Corbyn

Credit:

PA Images

Last week, the Shadow Brexit Secretary gave the biggest hint yet that Labour may support giving the public an opportunity to reverse last year’s vote and remain in the bloc.

Asked on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show if Labour would back a second referendum, the Shadow Brexit Secretary Keir Starmer replied: “We haven't called for a second referendum, things are moving so fast it's hard to know what's going to come next but we are not calling for it.”

“We’ve not said we want a second referendum. What we actually want is a negotiated settlement,” he added.

“In the circumstances where that deal comes back and Parliament rejects it, what we think should happen is Theresa May should either go back and try and renegotiate or she should stand aside and let a government come in and negotiate a deal which is acceptable to parliament .

Contributions from readers

graham669

15:06 on 18th December 2017

It is about time that the labour party elite woke up to the fact that brexit only has one main aim.
May is determined to take us out of the EU at any cost to satisfy her very wealthy supporters, apart from wanting the social chapter destroyed, the wealthy do not want the new EU legislation that requires governments to stop tax avoidance by companies.
This EU directive would mean they have to pay the right amount of tax, and the people could end up paying less.
Read this carefully and think about the implications: https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/business/company-tax/anti-tax-avoidance-package/anti-tax-avoidance-directive_en